Checkmate
by acciokelly
Summary: Spencer Reid thinks his newest chess opponent is going to be a quick and easy win - he soon finds out there's more to her than meets the eye. Rated T for future chapters.
1. The First Matches

"Checkmate." Spencer's jaw dropped as the woman sitting across from him beat him at chess for the second time today. He could always see five moves ahead, but when she played, it was like she knew exactly what to do to throw him off.

"You have got to be kidding me." He said, licking his lips and pushing his king down with a small sigh. "Why did I play you again?" He looked up to the girl and examined her once more. It was obvious to him why he had no qualms about playing her; she had dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, a soft demeanor and a quiet voice. She didn't look at all the type to dominate at a game of chess – maybe checkers – but not chess. Upon speaking to her however, it seemed that she had a vocabulary that rivaled his and a book of statistics printed on her eyelids. If anyone could have been Spencer's clone, it was this woman.

"I think you played me because I fooled you with my cute, meek voice," she announced, grinning. She was right.  
>"I didn't even catch your name," Spencer said while he packed up his marble chess pieces. "I'm Spencer but most people call me Reid." He looked up and held his hand out for her to shake. His cheeks were red at the thought of how rude he had been to not introduce himself earlier. He hoped she wouldn't take it the wrong way.<p>

"I'm Harper. Most people call me Harper," she grinned and shook his hand. She had a nice handshake and a pretty name, he thought. "Like Harper Lee?" Spencer asked with a quizzical look.

"My mother's favorite writer. She would read me a chapter of a book every night before I went to bed. She thought it would be the best time to get my knowledge in, I guess. I didn't ever hear books like Green Eggs and Ham or Hop on Pop. It was always To Kill a Mockingbird or Catcher in the Rye or the like." Harper sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

Spencer put his chess materials in his messenger bag and looked at Harper again. "Do you maybe want to get coffee some time? We seem to have a lot in common and I don't really have many people who want to talk boring literature or statistics with me." He was rambling he knew it but the word vomit was flowing. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't wa—" Harper had placed two fingers on Spencer's lips and she was grinning. "I'd love to, of course. Can I call you?"

"Um, yeah," he mumbled behind her fingers. When she finally moved them, he could feel the blood rushing to his ears again. He rummaged in his bag for one of his business cards and handed it to her.

"Great. I'll call you soon. Bye, Spencer," she said and turned to leave the park. Spencer was rooted to the spot; he had never blatantly asked a girl out with a positive response. He saw her turn to look at him before going through the gate and disappearing behind a corner. He stood there for a couple more minutes before his phone beeped. He looked down at it – It was time for a new case.


	2. The Date

The wheels on the jet had barely hit the runway when his phone buzzed quietly in his pocket. Spencer pulled it from its hiding spot and looked to see a text. "_Hey, I know I said I would call you but I can't send a winky face to you otherwise. Can you do coffee tonight? Let me know! Harper ;-) PS. I'm sorry for my untimely response. My puppy ran away and I had to start a search. Found him this morning!"_

Spencer thought she had changed her mind after the fourth day waiting for her call. Derek told him to calm down and that she would call. He tried to believe what he said but this wasn't a situation he was often in. But he didn't have time to be distracted with life anyway when there was a case to solve. "_Sure. I don't know too many coffee places around here so can I trust you to pick a place?" _Was that a weird way to respond? Did he just mess everything up? Not a minute later his phone buzzed and they had finished taxiing. He looked at his phone again while his coworkers started to gather their things. "_Meet me at the same chess tables. 7pm._"

"Coming, Reid?" Rossi calls from the door.

"On my way." He gathered his things and left the plane with a smile on his face.

* * *

><p>It was 5:30 when Spencer walked out of the shower. He wrapped his towel around his waist and headed towards his closet. What would he wear? Was the date going to be outside the whole night? He would need a sweater. But what if it moved inside? He would need one he could take off easily. Cardigan. And a long-sleeved white button up. Pants? His brown trousers would do. He laid all the clothes out on the bed and walked to his dresser picking out a blue pair of boxer-briefs and a couple random socks.<p>

After he got dressed and tried his best to tame is still damp hair, he made sure his chess pieces were in his bag before he headed out to the park. It wasn't a long way from his apartment so he decided to walk since it was only 6:15. When he arrived, there was no one around. He took a seat at a random table and looked at the worn black and white paint. He hated the waiting game. He traced the edge of the table 14 times when he heard someone walking in the grass behind him.

Harper was walking up in a nice double-breasted navy coat and a knee length black-lace dress. Her heels made her exactly Spencer's height and she was balancing a cup holder in one hand and a paper bag in the other.

"Let me help you," Spencer said, getting up from his seat and grabbing the coffee from her hand. "You look really pretty," he mumbled while he admired Harper's hair that was half up with a couple pieces framing her face. Her eyes had a subtle amount of mascara; just enough to make the yellow flecks stand out. She smiled and shook her head. "No, no. You're the one that looks nice tonight."

Spencer pulled the chair out for Harper while he flushed. He wasn't used to genuine compliments. "I can't believe that you bought the coffee! Isn't that usually the man's job?" He smiled and sat down in the seat across from her and watched her pull pastries from the bag and pull the coffees from the cup holder.

"I couldn't resist surprising you with my favorite cup of Joe in town." She took a sip from one of the cups and pushed the other towards Spencer. He took a sip and felt the warm, sweet liquid slide down his throat. It was by far the best coffee he had tasted.

"This is really good," he said in between sips.

"I'm glad you like it." She grinned. "So, why is it that you decided to ask me out so suddenly, Spencer?" She looked him up and down. "It doesn't seem like you."

_She could be a profiler, this one,_ he thought to himself. He cleared his throat and looked down at the lid of his coffee cup. "Well, you're right. I just liked talking to you and I didn't want that to be our only conversation." He contained the word vomit that was inching it's way slowly from his mind.

"I'm glad. I really enjoyed talking to you, too." Harper put her elbows on the table and held her cup with both hands before taking a small sip. "So, what's it like being an FBI agent?" She smiled and the corners of her eyes crinkled. Spencer liked that.

"It can be really tiring. Some nights I just fall onto my bed right after walking into my apartment. But I like the challenge and the way the cases make me think. And I get a cool gun." He shrugged and took a sip of his coffee and listened to Harper's laugh. It was like a bird singing. He could get used to that.

* * *

><p>Two hours had passed as Spencer spoke of his favorite cases and films and novels and Harper of her favorite countries and authors and philosophers. The more they spoke, the closer they got until Spencer was able to reach up to put a piece of unruly hair behind Harper's ear without stretching at all.<p>

Once their breath became visible in the October night air, did they finally break their trance and realize how cold they really were. They got up from their chairs and cleaned up the remnants of their snacks.

"I was really looking forward to beating you at chess today, too! I just got so caught up with talking," Harper said as she threw away the coffee cups in a nearby garbage can.

"I have a chess board at home if you really want to play tonight." He didn't even realize he was asking a girl over to his apartment for the first time in his life. "I have blankets." He shivered just thinking about how warm it would be in his apartment.

"Sure," Harper exclaimed with a grin. "I can't wait to beat you on your own turf." Spencer just shook his head and carefully reached for her hand as they started to walk. He felt her fingers intertwine with his and he smiled as they walked out of the park.


End file.
